Restless Legs Magnesium and Calcium

[kallik]

I've heard magnesium and calcium could help my son's restless legs, expecially at night. Does anybody know the ratio of magnesium to calcium and what types to take? He is ten years old. He already takes magnesium taurate, about 350 mill. a day. Thanks.

[Calicat]

Hi Kallik,

I take magnesium for my restless legs and sleep issues. I find it doesn't take much to help, and I'm a full grown regular weight adult. I think I take about 250mg (hard to say for sure; it's a powder). One thing to look into is absorbability. I think that mag citrate is one of the most absorbable forms. I read somewhere that the guy who developed Kids Calm (which is my mag supp.) figured out a better "delivery system" by having a mag citrate that is dissolveable in hot water; apparently it gets into your body faster and is absorbed more this way. All I know is that this particular product, with it's particular type of mag (citrate), works for me.

 

As for calcium, I believe a 2:1 ratio (cal to mag) is pretty standard BUT I also hear that 1:1 is probably sufficient if you take into accout dietary calcium.

 

Hope this helps.

Calicat

[faith]

Kalik,

could you tell me more about the mag taurate? How long have you used this for your son and does it seem to help with his tics? Any reactions or increase in tics in the past when you first started it?

 

Thanks

Faith

[kallik]

Mag taurate seems to work well for his throat clearing tic. As far as I know there's been no negative side effects. He's started eye blinking a lot the last couple days. I think it's from too much computer/t.v. time. He's been taking the mag taurate for about four months now. What type of calcium should we use? I think there's different kinds.

[Calicat]

Your son sounds like my daughter! (The throat clearing being helped by mag and taurine, and then the eye blinking starting.) Because I couldn't find the mag taurate at any stores here, I ended up getting the mag and taurine seperately, and that worked great, too! I still think it's worth trying the Kids Calm in particular at night for the restless legs, maybe even as an add-on to his regular mag dose... even half a teaspoon to start.

 

I don't know all the ins and outs of calcium, but I do know some forms are quite absorbable, and others, barely at all. My daughter takes SISU Kiddie Cal 250mg, which is cal carbonate and cal citrate. I want to research it more thoroughly at some point. I know that there is an issue of contamination with some form of calcium; hopefully someone out there can chime in with the specifics.

[kallik]

Hi Calicat,

I still think it's worth trying the Kids Calm in particular at night for the restless legs, maybe even as an add-on to his regular mag dose... even half a teaspoon to start.

I was looking at the Kid's Calm and it mentions "natural orange flavor" in the ingredients. Do you know if this is okay when avoiding artificial stuff. I know it says natural, but sometimes it's bad for tics. Also I looked at the Kiddie Cal and on the information it says it has no magnesium, because it can upset children's tummies, but in the ingredients it lists magnesium stearate. I wondered if you had noticed that. Anyway, thanks for all the help. Do you think there's a trigger for your daughter's eye blinking?

[Calicat]

Hi again Kallik,

You're right, I've heard that even "natural" flavours can be a problem for some kids. Seems ok for mine, as she has had this supplement all along since May, and tics have varied from frequent to almost none during that time. But I would prefer it if they made the product without a flavour.

 

I haven't found the definitive answer on the eye winking tic trigger (if there is one), but I did solve part of the mystery... I had mistakenly been giving her TWO products daily for more than a week: pink grapefruit juice with carmine (food colouring from beetles) in it, and Activia yogurt, which somehow slipped past me and has artificial flavour in it. Grrrrrr. Once I realized it and stopped, the winks went down quite a bit. And yet they linger a bit. Mind you, I am not keeping the diet 100% clean. I am doing it mostly in my own house, but not always out of it. Tonight we had dinner with friends and I'm pretty sure the gravy had a gravy mix in it... which would mean MSG. But I didn't want to say anything. And when she is with dad or grandparents, they are not exactly label readers. It's not that they don't care, it's just that I'm not sure they believe in it to the extent that I do. And also they would think label reading is too much work, because they wouldn't understand the different terms, etc. Seperate rant, but I'm having a hard time with that. I feel like I have done SOOOOOO much work in getting my daughter's tics reduced to a decent level, and he (her father) just takes it for granted. And then gives her things she's not supposed to have. He sees it in a simpler way: like, oh, goldfish crackers, well all the kids eat them and they're crackers, not chips, and look! they have real cheese in them, so I guess they're great! I don't think he understands life without processed foods.

 

Anyway, not sure about the magnesium stearate in the Kiddie Cal. I'm on the fence about SISU. Do you have it in the States? I've had sales people tell me it's so top of the line, and yet I have read their ingredients for some products and been disappointed. I'm still searching for just the right calcium product for my girl.

 

Take care,

Calicat